Girard and Levinas -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 16:42:35 03/13/08 Thu
Author: Jfish
Subject: Girard and Levinas

This question might only be relevant to people who know a little bit about Emmanuel Levinas, meaning Dr. Jackson, but Dr. Jackson has mentioned one part of Levinas' philosophy in class that seems to contradict Girard. Levinas takes the position iterated in Brothers K, saying "we are all responsible for everyone else, but I more than anyone else." So the guilt of every action always goes back to the self and is taken upon by the self.
Now when we look at the Oedipus myth, this happens quite naturally. Oedipus follows the oracular by the letter, blames himself for the ills in the city, and banishes himself. Arguably, he perpetrates the mechanism of violence more than any of the city dwellers. He does not reject the mythological, he does not unveil the myth, but he participates in it.
I'm confused because Dr. Jackson said Girard diagnoses the problem of humanity and Levinas provides the answer. But in this case, it seems that the answer and diagnosis oppose each other. Can it be, in a Levinasian understanding, that since Oedipus really sincerely accepts responsibility for all the ills of the city, thereby encouraging the mythological, Oedipus actually embraces his humanity, his I-ness, his religion for adults? (This makes more sense if you've read Levinas.) So then what really solves the problem of violence, bearing responsibility or unveiling the arbitrariness of "guilt"?

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